There is an unmistakable glint of satisfaction in the old, seasoned eyes of Malkhan Singh, the village head, as he speaks about the transformation of his village Gopalpura ever since Development Alternatives (DA) intervened with Arghyam Foundation for the better.Reeling under acute water shortage for years, the villagers would wake up long before the first ray of dawn would hit the sleepy village.Women and young girls walking long distances in search of drinking water was a common sight.The plight of the villagers pained Malkhan Singh. He longed for a way out. His prayers were answered when DA approached the village with a promise of water security and other basic needs fulfillment. Visionary as he was, Malkhan Singh was quick to realise the potential in this partnership. There was no stopping him then. Unmindful of the initial apprehension of the villagers, Malkhan Singh promised to stand by DA in its ventures.

The TARA Akshar+ Literacy and Numeracy programme is a highly successful and cost effective method for helping illiterate people to read, write and do simple arithmetic. Using advanced learning and memory techniques and modern information technology, it can teach a person how to read a newspaper, write a letter and do simple calculations with up to 2-digit numbers – all in well under two months of classroom learning, with a daily class of well under two hours.With support from various Government and Non-Governmental organisations, the TARA Akshar+ Literacy programme has been tested and proved with over 65,000 women who were completely illiterate. The students were spread over 300 locations in 8 States of Northern India.The results from this large test sample have been extraordinary. Both the dropout rate and the failurerate are less than 1.5%.